UMES women advance to MEAC Championship

UMES senior Jessica Long shoots against Norfolk State. The Hawks advanced to the MEAC Championship the first time in program history with a 69-64 win over Norfolk State.(Photo: Megan Raymond Photo)Buy Photo

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore women's basketball team has a saying they borrowed from Chauncey Billups' days with the Detroit Pistons.

"If it ain't rough, it ain't right."

They personified that Friday in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals against Norfolk State, not only making things difficult for the Spartans, but also on themselves.

"You saw that in the second half with the lead that we had and allowed them to get back in, and even in overtime, where we just made it a little more difficult that it had to be," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "But I think that really set us up with a mentality that we still have something to prove."

And they'll get their chance after they knocked off No. 4 seed Norfolk State 69-64 in overtime Friday afternoon.

UMES (14-16) has never been to a conference championship game, but that will change on Saturday as they face Savannah State for the MEAC title and an NCAA Tournament berth.

Early in the second half, it looked like they may run away with it, but Norfolk wasn't ready to go away that easily.

After freshman Moengaroa Subritzky drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 14:17 to go, the team was up by 12, but Spartans coach Debra Clark called a timeout to regroup.

After the timeout, the Hawks struggled against the full-court pressure the Spartans employed. During the next five minutes, the Hawks turned the ball over four times and didn't make a basket until Alexis Udoji pushed the lead back to seven points with 9:18 to go.

Long followed with a steal and layup to make it 49-40, but Norfolk wasn't done.

"On the floor, I was just trying to make sure everybody kept their head in it and stay focused, and not let the calls or their run affect us," Jessica Long said. "I know that teams make runs and good players make shots. We had to be able to stop their run and make shots ourselves to get out of here with a win."

UMES made some bad decisions at the offensive end and rushed a few shots the Spartans kept picking away. With 1:42 left, Norfolk State had cut the lead to 3 at 52-49.

"I told them to stay in attack mode, not get on our heels," Batchelor said. "I told Jessica that a couple times where we were trying to play smart and not rush. I thought we took a couple of ill-advised shots in regulation, but if they had gone, then they would have been great plays."

Heading to OT

Subritzky got to the line four times in the next 1:16, but Norfolk cut the lead to 56-55 with 26 seconds left. Then the Hawks turned the ball over on the inbound, and with 22 seconds the Spartans had life.

With 12 seconds left, Norfolk State star Rae Corbo drove to the basket, but the Hawks' defense held strong, making her throw up a wild shot. Kayla Roberts tried the putback and drew TeAmber Burke's fifth foul.

Roberts missed the first free throw, but made the second, sending the game to overtime.

"When (Roberts) went 1-for-1 from the line, I told them 'this is our destiny right here, but we have to take it in overtime,' " Batchelor said.

The Hawks started the overtime strong with a layup by Long. Freshman Alexus Hicks made a 3-pointer to give UMES the 61-58 lead and then Long drew her fifth charge of the game to grab all the momentum.

The Hawks then ran a clear out for Subritzky, who took her defender off the dribble to put her team up five.

"Her skill set is wide range," Batchelor said after the game. "We have never practiced that play we have been running the last couple of days where we get the ball to her and tell everybody to get out of the way. That is something that came about while we were playing the game. And her ability to knock down 3's and make free throws — and I know all she is looking at right now is that she had seven turnovers and I have to tell her that she's the reason we win this basketball game."

Norfolk State answered, but UMES ran a perfect possession, spreading the floor, running the clock and then finishing it with a layup by Taryana Kelly with 1:26 to go.

The Spartans decided to foul Hicks after Kelly grabbed a huge rebound and made the outlet pass. Hicks sank both free throws to put the Hawks up by seven.

Norfolk State made it interesting, but Subritzky and Long each converted 1-of-2 from the line during the final 27 seconds to preserve the win.

"A freshman on paper"

Subritzky scored 21 points, including 15 after the half, and was 7-of-10 from the free throw line, all after the break, and clearly wanted the ball in her hands as much as Long did down the stretch.

Moengaroa Subritzky fires a pass through two Norfolk State defenders in Friday’s MEAC Tournament semifinal game. UMES won 69-64, and will now face Savannah State Saturday following the men’s tourney championship game. The story is on C1.(Photo: MARK W. SUTTON IMAGE)

"I try to clear my head as much as possible and think about nothing (on the line)," Subritzky said. "I'm a freshman, but I'm 22. I'm probably one of the older ones on the team. I'm a freshman on paper, but in my mind I'm a lot older and they always joke about it with me."

She also pulled down six rebounds and defended Corbo for large stretches of the game. As did Burke, who fouled out at the end of regulation.

"We had talked about that she was a great scorer and she could shoot, she could drive and pull up in mid-range," Subritzky said. "So we had to do as much as we could to try and limit her touches."

Corbo finished 5 of 21 from the field, including 2-of-10 from behind the arc, but still managed 18 points.

Long had 16 points. Junior center Alexis Udoji finished with eight points and five rebounds, but changed the game with her play on defense in the post and at the top of the Hawks' zone late in the game.

Tipoff for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference women's championship is scheduled for 30 minutes after the men's championship game ends Saturday. The men's game will begin at 1 p.m. and be televised on ESPN2.

The championship game will be televised on the web live on ESPN3 and will then be replayed on tape delay at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday on ESPNU.

The last title that the school won was the Maryland's Association for Intercollegiate Athletic for Women title in 1978. That was before the NCAA had women's athletics.

"We feel that we have made history, but we haven't completed (our) history," Batchelor said.